The Stranger
by TheGuyToYourLeft
Summary: While Finn and Jake were enjoying a meal, they receive news of a master thief in the Candy Kingdom, stealing valuables. Along the way of the investigation, they come across a guy that seems to fit the description of this thieving interloper. Is he the thief, or is there a worse power at play? Send me fanart of The Stranger. Thanks again! -TGTYL
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE: The Shadow in the picture

"Finn, Finn. Hey Finn!', yelled Jake.

They were at Candy Kingdom enjoying some free food from a popular restaurant after they saved the owner from certain doom by the hands of a pancake monster. The owner was so thankful, he gave them coupons for a free four course meal for a romantic date for two at night. But the coupons expired today. Finn came back to reality after Jake yelled at him.

"Wha, sorry Jake. Was I thinking too hard again?"

Jake shrugged his shoulders as he continued to eat the sandwich of awesome.

"You were dude. The waiter spilled your soup on your shorts and you didn't do jack."

Finn looked down at his shorts and found it to be damp and had noodles and veggie stains on it. He grabbed his napkin and furiously tried to wipe it off, only to make the problem worse. His expression became a sad one as he realized defeat. Jake stretched his hand to give Finn a pat on the back for trying.

"Come on, Finn. It's just a soup stain. It ain't nothing major like-."

He was interrupted by a banana guard, panting from exhaustion.

"Finn! Jake! I gotta show you something!"

Finn and Jake sprung from their chairs and followed the banana guard back to the castle. They arrived at the castle with Manfred the Pianta yelling at them to go to the royal Surveillance room. The guard lead them deeper and deeper into the castle's bowels as Jake grabbed some signs and markers from Finn's backpack. He gave Finn some signs as he wrote down his thoughts.

'How much do U wanna bet that Ice King took Princess Bubblegum?'

Finn thought for a moment as he wrote down his answer. Jake stretched his shoulder over to see what Finn wrote down. Finn punched his nose as he noticed Jake was trying to see what he was writing. Jake recoiled and rubbed his nose, trying to numb the pain. Finn tapped his shoulder to show him his thoughts.

'20 bucks that he didn't.'

Jake grabbed a previously written sign. He flashed it to Finn as his response.

'UR on!'

Jake shook Finn's hand in agreement as the two gambled twenty dollars to see if the Ice King took Bubblegum. Again. They arrived at the surveillance room, said pink princess sitting on her comfy chair. Jake held his breath, hoping he didn't have to sacrifice his twenty dollars. She turned around and it was indeed Bubblegum. Finn fist pumped while Jake got a twenty from his wallet in his skin-flap pocket. Finn took the twenty as he had plastered a large grin on his face. Jake muttered under his breath.

"(Cough) Butt-Face (Cough, cough)."

Finn didn't noticed as he crammed the twenty into his backpack. Bubblegum looked at both of them, waiting for both of them to stop talking. She motioned them to look at the monitor.

"Okay guys, I need Jake for this one."

She brought up several videos as she as she continued to speak.

"Awhile back, we lost several objects of cray cray value that appear to be stolen by some dark entity, like a tiger or something. Anyway, I need you, Jake, to patrol the Royal Candy Rooms to ensure that nothing gets jacked by this shadow or broken by Cinnamon Bun."

Jake shook his head as he ran to the the Royal Rooms. Finn was about to go when PB grabbed his shoulder. He looked up at her as she told him his assignment.

"Finn, I need you to guard the kitchens. Someone has been stealing my sodas and I can never seem to find the culprit. I already have banana guards posted there, but you know how incompetent they really are."

"Okay, do we know what it looks like?"

PB picked up a piece of paper from a desk and handed it to Finn. Finn looked at the figure as he had a difficult time deciding what the identity of this crazed soda thief was.

"I have an idea, guys. Jake can stand guard tonight and see if he can catch it."

Finn shook his head as he walked out of the room, walking slowly towards the kitchen. He saw the two banana guards that were stationed there. One was taking a nap as the other one was playing Solitaire. The one that was playing got up and shook the other one awake.

"Hey, I had a good dream. Me and LSP were on a date and it was awesome."

His friend looked at him with disgust as he said his statement.

"Dude, LSP is like the most disgusting, heartless, and selfish person alive. How do you have the hots for that abomination of life and all that is cool."

The sleepy Banana Guard looked at him and replied with.

"I don't know, I just like her that's all."

The banana guard looked at him with disgust and turned his attention towards Finn.

"Hey Finn. You here to take over for us right?"

Finn shook his head in reply, which made the guards smile.

"Cool, we are going to leave now. Laters!"

The guards ran towards the exit of the castle, as Finn took a chair and sat on it. He had his vigilance face plastered on and watched the door that lead to PB's sodas. An hour in his face was starting to droop. Three hours in, his eyes had bags, were becoming incredibly heavy and were extremely hard to keep open and alert to any mysterious shadows. Another hour later, his fatigue won, he fell on his face and slept on it. He dreamed of Marceline, Bubblegum and Flame Princess. The dream quickly turned into a nightmare as LSP interrupted his dream time. He woke up with a cold sweat as he heard a loud racket.

The source came from inside the kitchen door. He unsheathed his grass blade as he kicked the door down in one swift and decisive motion. The fridge door quickly closed as a hooded figure had a twelve ounce bottle of Bubblegum's soda. The figure waved his left hand as if it had unimaginable power. The next thing Finn knew, he was slammed on to the kitchen wall. He groaned as he tried to get up from the painful experience that just occurred. He looked at his target, who was laying down on the floor exhausted. The figure was clutching its stomach, as if it were starving. Finn gripped his sword tighter as he got closer to the powerful person. The figure, now on its knees and groaning loudly, fell flat onto the floor, unconscious.

"Guards! I found who's been stealing PB's soda!"

2 banana guards, along with PB wearing her pajamas, ran down to the kitchen. They found Finn, half awake, pointing at the ground. The figure was lying on the floor face down, clutching a bottle of soda. In its other hand, it had random pieces of food. Finn flipped the figure over to examine it. It was wearing a type of reflective headgear, as if to hide its face. It wore all black clothing, black shirt, black pants, black shoes. The only thing it wore that wasn't black was a long chain with thorns on it on the figures arm. It gleamed in the moonlight. It also had a small flail on it that had a mysterious red glow. The figure looked big, bigger than Finn and looked stronger than him, but when Finn lifted it up, he said the figure was actually not very heavy at all.

"What is it?" Finn asked.

"I don't know" PB replied. "But whatever it is, we should inspect it a bit more. Bring it to my lab so I can have a better look at it."

Finn lifted it up and hauled it upstairs, without breaking a sweat due to its incredibly low weight, to Bubblegum's lab. He set it down on the metal table in the center of the room. PB flicked the light switch on. The figure groaned and moved its arm slightly.

"Finn, put the restraints on it," PB whispered, afraid to wake the figure up.

Finn snuck up to it and restrained its arms and legs using the leather bands in the table. The figure finally woke up. It looked at Finn, then at Bubblegum, then at Finn again. It didn't struggle in the slightest. Finn walked up to it and tried to remove the headgear. He got electrocuted for his troubles. The figure said nothing. It simply stared at him.

"Who are you," Bubblegum asked.

The figure heard her voice and moved its head to look at her. It glared back at her. The figure moved its arm around in the restraints and pointed at the restraint holding it back. Then, it shaped its hand into a peace sign. PB believed that it was saying it wanted to be released and that it wouldn't hurt anyone.

"I'm not doing that. How do I know you won't try to escape," PB asked.

Finn watched this in confusion. Why won't it talk? he thought. Is it evil? Or is it good? The figure pointed at a keyboard. PB looked at it and handed it to him. She turned on the computer it was plugged into.

"_I mean no harm. I am just very hungry and weary. I will answer all of your questions. But please, release me. I will not harm you or the boy. I've just come a long way and all I request is something to eat and to drink_," the figure typed.

"Are you good or evil," Finn asked.

"_I cannot say I am good, but I can't say i'm bad. I would have to say neutral, to be honest with with you, stranger_." the figure typed. When it finished, it coughed.

"Where did you come from," Bubblegum asked.

_"Personally, I can't remember._" the figure typed.

"What's your name then," Finn asked.

"_I don't have one_," the figure typed. It added a sad face next to the text it wrote.

"What are you," PB questioned.

"_I am a boy. What kind of creature I am should best remain a secret,_" the figure typed.

"Psst. Princess," Finn whispered.

PB walked over to him and leaned close to him.

"This guy sounds like just someone trying to get by. I think we should let him go," Finn said.

"Why? So he can go for my soda again? I won't let him out unless somebody is with him."

"I can watch him. If he tries to run away, I can take him down."

"Hmm… Alright Finn."

Bubblegum walked over to the intercom and told Jake to come up to the lab as Finn released the restraints from the stranger. The figure stood up and looked down at Finn. He scratched his arm. He looked to his right and saw some food next to him. He pointed at it.

"Oh yeah. You haven't eaten in a while, haven't you," Finn asked.

The figure shook his head and picked it up. He looked at Finn and pointed at him and PB, then pointed at the door. He made an eating motion with his hands.

"I can't let you out of my sight. Sorry man," Finn replied.

The stranger pointed at Finn and PB then made a twirling motion.

"You want us to turn around?"

He shook his head in agreement.

Finn stood in front of the window, with his back to the stranger. PB turned around to face the wall. They both heard noises. First, the headgear was removed, followed by a scratching noise. Then, some munching noises. Finally, the helmet being put back on again. The stranger snapped his fingers. Finn and Bubblegum turned around again. The food was gone. Jake walked into the room at that point.

"Finn, look out," Jake yelled. He threw a punch at the stranger.

The stranger, with incredible speed, grabbed both PB and Finn and put them behind him. He then pulled out his chain and spun it in the air, with his arm covering Finn and Bubblegum. He blocked the punch and even sent it back at him. Jake yelped in pain.

"Stop! That's Jake. He's nice," Finn screamed.

The stranger stared at Jake for a moment then twirled the chain back onto his arm. He sunk his head in shame. Finn patted his back then ran over to Jake.

"Jake. You OK, buddy," he asked.

"Ow! No! That puke just made me punch myself in the face! Who is that?", Jake said.

"He's uh… hmm… I don't know. He said he didn't have a name. What do we call him then," Finn said. He looked at the stranger. The stranger shrugged. Jake then looked at the stranger with dislike as he casually suggested.

"How about dirt bag?"

Finn glared at his dog brother. The stranger sunk his head lower. Finn patted his back to show that he was accepted here, even though some people were cranky jerks. Jake looked at both of them and sighed. The stranger looked up and began moving his hands.

"I'm sorry Finn. It's just I lost the guy that's been stealing the stuff last night and I'm just mad at myself and really tried. I'm just mad at myself that's all."

Finn looked at Jake and smiled.

"It's fine Jake. Just jam on your Voila or something to get rid of your blues and vent out your anger."

The dog wagged his little tail as he got his prized instrument from Finn's pack. He started to play one of Mozart's classics as the Stranger looked at the instrument that was creating the sound. He pointed at it and typed out a new sentence.

"_That was Glob awful. If you really want to hear something better, give me the Viola and I will show all of you how to play this instrument_."

The dog frowned as he looked at the stranger then at his beloved item. His eyes then wandered to the stranger's hand. He defensively held on to his wonderful sound maker.

"Ain't no way I'm going to give this to anyone that I just met!"

The stranger then shrugged and made the motions of someone playing a Viola. Finn looked at him like he was nuts, PB was trying to figure out what this person could possibly try to accomplish and Jake growled at him. Then the particles of light from the light bulb started to move and float freely around the room. Everyone except the The New Guy stood there in awe. The beams of light then floated closer and closer to the stranger as he played the air Viola. The glowing balls started to take shape as the light bulb short circuited and exploded. The only available light from the room was the illuminating spheres that were now in the stranger's hands. The spheres then shaped themselves into a viola. He began to play the same classic that Jake had done, but it sounded more complicated and it sounded much better. It filled the room with beautiful music. When he finished, he took a bow and moved his hands to the light bulb. The light turned back into spheres and flew into the glass bulb. Everyone began to clap. The stranger took a bow.

"Wow, you're really good, whats-his-face," Finn said.

The stranger typed a smiley on the keyboard.

"Hey, how about we go to sleep and when we wake up, we can show the new guy around Ooo?"

The stranger made the smiley on the monitor has a big grin.

END OF CHAPTER 1


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A new Hero**

As the sun's rays entered the Tree Fort, Finn's eyes slowly opened. He blinked twice as he got up from his bed, stretched his aching bod and changed into his casual clothing. He scratched his back as he climbed down the ladder to make some delicious bacon pancakes. He reached for the cabinet for a frying pan when he heard a loud sound resenting from the living room. Finn, ever vigilant, ran down towards the living area and stumbled upon a strange sight. There was the stranger standing over the little robot that everyone loves. Bmo was in sleep mode as the guy stood over him, looking like he was contemplating if he should touch the little machine. BMO suddenly woke up and screamed. The stranger flew backwards and behind the couch, clutching something in his hand.

"BMO, stop! He's nice! He's nice!" Finn screamed.

"Oh. I am sorry, Finn. He looked like a bad guy to me." BMO explained.

"Are you ok, guy." Finn asked.

The stranger's arm shot thumbs up from behind the couch. He hopped up from behind the couch onto the cushions. He held his hand out to BMO and BMO reached out to him too. He gave BMO a firm handshake and a wave to say hello. BMO waved back and giggled.

"He's funny, Finn." BMO said.

"What'cha got there." Finn asked. He pointed at the stranger's hand.

The stranger held up the universal translator.

"What do you need with that old thing? It only has 3 voices on it and its for translating anyways. You speak my language," Finn said.

The stranger put it on and moved the switch to a new setting, "Robot". He tested it out. It sounded like Lady Rainicorn, but beckoning. The stranger gave the translator a hard smack, which set it to "Robot".

"How does this sounds, friend." The stranger spoke in a robotic voice.

"That sounds great, guy." Finn replied.

The stranger drew a smile using the light he used to make the viola last night. He even drew eyes and spoke and made the face move as he spoke.

"Hey, we should show you around. Let's wake Jake up," Finn said.

The stranger flipped a switch on the translator and called Jake down.

"Jake! Come on! Let's go," he spoke in auto tune.

"I'm coming," Jake yelled.

The stranger made a light come from his hands and it was shaped like a keytar. He began to play synthesizer music while he waited. When Jake finally came downstairs, he made it vanish.

"Hey, you should probably change your clothes, new guy." Jake said. "Make a good impression, you know."

"Good idea, Jake." the stranger replied.

The stranger made a light come out of his hands. Finn and Jake saw a red bar with a heart by it along with a list of things.

"Whoa. What's that," Finn asked.

"It's my hub. I use this if I want to change my gear or if I want to see how I am or how someone else is," the stranger replied.

Finn blinked and saw that the stranger looked different. His clothes when from a jacket and pants to a long sleeved black shirt, untucked at the bottom. His pants changed to black jeans. His reflective headgear changed to a different look. It looked like he was wearing shades. His chain remained the same.

"Wow. You look good," Finn said.

"Thanks. Where do you want to go first," the stranger asked.

"Well, before we leave, we need to give you a name," Jake said.

Everyone began to think of ideas for the new guy.

"Micheal?"

"No."

"Seth?"

"Nope."

"Derek?"

"Nada."

After an hour, they couldn't think of a name for him.

"Let's go to Marceline's house. She's good with music," Finn said.

"Sounds fun," the stranger said.

"Until I get a real name, how about you call me X?"

"Better than calling you new guy," Jake said.

Finn and Jake started walking. They noticed that X started hovering.

"Whoa, you can fly?" Finn asked.

"I have telekinesis. I can move things with my mind. So I can lift myself too," X replied.

"Cool," Jake said. "Marceline can fly too. She's a vampire.", Finn said.

After some talking, they made it to Marceline's cave. X noted that the cave had a weird mildew smell to it. Finn walked up to the porch and knocked on the door. Jake started to laugh. Finn turned around to see X doing a dance on the roof of the cave. Finn joined in on the laughter. Marceline opened the door to see Finn and Jake on the verge of happy tears. She looked up to see someone dancing on the ceiling.

"What are you doing?! Kill that thing!" Marceline screamed.

When X heard the word "kill", he dropped from the ceiling, chain twirling in the air. He pushed Finn and Jake behind him.

"Marceline! Wait! He's good," Finn screamed.

"Oh. Is he new here?" she said.

"Yeah. He doesn't have a name so he wants to be called X," Jake said.

"Sorry, X. I'm Marceline, the vampire queen," she said. She held out her hand for a handshake.

X looked at her hand and was shown to be intensely nervous as he tried to figure out the foreign gesture. He hesitated as he attempted to poke the vampire's hand with his index finger. Marceline looked at him with a bewildered look as he twirled the chain back onto his right arm.

"We brought him here because he can play music," Finn said.

"Hmm. Let's see what you can do then," Marceline said.

"What instrument do you want me to play?" X asked.

"Hmm. Can you play a guitar?" she asked.

He crafted the balls of light again. Its shape was that of a guitar.

"Does this answer your question," X asked.

He played a loud and complicated solo on his guitar. He finished it off with a fast paced ending and struck a power chord and held it. He took a bow. Marceline

"Not bad at all," she said.

"Well, he doesn't have a place to live and he doesn't have a name either. We were hoping you could help us." Finn said.

"Hmm. I can think of a few good names. He can crash here for a while. As long as he can help around the house." she said.

X shouted with glee. He noticed Marceline's axe bass.

"Hey, is that bass ax thing yours?" X asked.

"Yeah. Why do you ask," Marceline questioned.

"Can I draw it?" X asked.

"I don't care. Just don't touch it. Cause if you do, I'm gonna have me some medium rare meat tonight." she said.

After about 10 minutes, X returned with a very accurate drawing of the axe bass. He crafted the balls of light again. This time, it shaped itself into Marceline's axe bass. He played a chord and played a few notes on it. He put the balls of light away after that.

"How can you do that?" Marceline asked.

"That's very easy, first you imagine the shape of what your drawi-"

"No dummy, that weird light magic."

"My powers are fueled by music. The more I can do with it, the more powerful I become," he replied.

"What kinds of instruments can you play," Marceline asked.

"Any kind. Just ask and I'll play it." X replied.

"Hey man! Let's get going! We got to show you the rest of Ooo," Finn said.

"Alright then," X replied.

X pulled out his hub again and made some marks on it. Finn, Jake, and Marceline realized it was a map. X pulled out a house pin.

"This pin's been collecting…pixels for a while now. Now I can use it," he said.

He placed the pin on Marceline's house. As they left, X yelled to Marceline that he'd be back later. Marceline waved goodbye. The trio began to walk to their next location: The Candy Kingdom.

"Marceline likes you. That's good. And she said you can sleep there for a while," Finn said.

"I was paying attention, Finn" X replied and began to laugh.

They made it to the kingdom in no time flat, due to X flying everyone there. X checked his hub. The hub said it was about 1 in the afternoon. He put it away. Finn pointed at the castle and X gave them a lift to the top. Princess Bubblegum was in her lab when they shown up.

"Whoa, how did you get in here" she asked.

"The new guy can fly. He has telakindis," Finn said.

"Telekinesis," X corrected.

"He's a good guy, like us" Finn said pointing at himself and Jake.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Digital Creep**

"Hey Finn," X said.

"What is it," Finn asked.

"I don't really like the name X," he said.

"Hey guys? I was just about to call Finn to bring the stranger here," PB said.

"Why," the new guy asked.

"I want to do some tests on you," she replied.

"What kind of tests," he questioned.

"Psyche, Combat, Intelligence, stuff like that," she replied.

"Ok then. But, I need to be back at Marceline's house before dark. I don't like the dark," he said.

PB shook her head and led him to a small white room. She decided to do the combat test first, but he would not be warned about it. She noticed that he was using his hub to change into combat gear.

"What is that," she asked. She pointed at the hub.

"It's my hub. I use it if I want to change my gear," he replied.

"Fascinating," she stared in awe. She sent in an opponent. It was a candy zombie, frosting dripping from its gaping mouth. It screamed at the stranger, then began to charge. The stranger reacted by uncoiling the chain from his arm and swung it at the candy zombie. The zombie, now injured with a missing leg, fell on its face and began to crawl towards him, screaming without end. The stranger walked up to it and gave it a quick curb stomp and ended its life. The stranger didn't look the slightest bit exhausted.

"If you're going to make me fight, make it a challenge," he teased.

"Not bad," she said. "Let's test your mental ability." She reached to a light switch and flicked it off.

"H-hey! Where did the light go," he questioned.

PB started to hear the stranger hyperventilate. Then he began to scream loudly in fear. She quickly flicked the switch back on. She saw the stranger, in the corner of the room, in the fetal position rocking back and forth.

"Don't… ever do that again," he yelled.

He got up to his feet and drew an angry face with the lights. It was obvious he wasn't very happy with the change in brightness. He walked to the door and walked outside and slammed it shut. He began to run to Marceline's house to get away from Bubblegum. When he made it there, it was a little past 6 o'clock. He shut the door quietly and pulled out some food from his hub. He gave a few quick glances around before he ate. Seeing that she wasn't home, he removed his helmet and began to eat. He suddenly heard footsteps. He quickly put the helmet back on and prepared to strike. Marceline walked inside.

"Whoa, what's the matter" she asked.

"PB left me in the dark. I'm afraid of it," he responded.

"Why are you afraid of the dark," she said.

"Try living 16 years in complete darkness and seeing the sun for the first time in your life," he responded harshly. Marceline couldn't take him seriously due to his robotic sounding voice. He groaned loudly and thought for a moment.

"Why do you always wear your mask? Why not show yourself,"" she asked.

"I don't like revealing my identity," he responded. "I can trust you because you're letting me live here for a while. Do you want to see my face," he asked.

"Sure. It would make me feel a little less frightened," she responded.

The new guy sighed and reached the latches on the back of his helmet. Steam hissed as he took it off. He let out a long sigh with relaxation. Marceline looked bewildered for a moment. The new guy put the helmet back on.

"Please don't tell anyone," he pleaded.

"I won't," she responded. "Hey, how about we play some music? It'll take your mind off of things," she said.

"How about I play you one of my own **songs**," he said.

"Sure, let's hear it" Marceline responded.

watch?v=i2eKqMFLGwc

He cracked his knuckles and pulled out the balls of light. It took the shape of a keytar. Other balls of light came from the first ball of light and made other instruments, like a keyboard and a drum set. The stranger began the song with the keyboard and he began to play his keytar to follow suit. The drum set began making a steady slow beat and he began to play notes from his keytar. An electric guitar followed in on the song. Marceline watched in awe of the strangers amazing melody of techno and electro. The stranger finished the song off with dual keytars performing the same solo, as if dueling each other. Then he took a bow and the balls of light faded away. Marceline began to applaud and cheer loudly.

"That was amazing! What's the song called," she asked.

"I call it 'Virtualization'," he replied. "I always thought it suited me easily. I thought of a name from the song, but I thought it wouldn't be of any use,"

"What name," she asked.

"I wanted to call myself Digital Creep. Or Digit for short," he stated.

"Ok then. I'll call Finn and let him know. You should play that song again for Finn. See what he thinks of it," she said.

Digit yawned loudly. "Maybe tomorrow. I'm a little tired at the moment."

"Ok then." She floated to the light and flicked it off. "Night, Digit"

"Good night, Marceline," he said as he drifted into a deep slumber.


End file.
